I also produced a couple of figures which are not for the picket boat, but are in the same vintage uniforms so will be suitable for my other late Victorian RN vessels. Here is the finished signaller complete with semaphore flags. The flags were added to the cast resin figure using brass wire and aluminium adhesive tape. The aluminium tape makes it easy to animate the flags.

And three more finished figures. These are destined for the picket boat model. The Officer and the seated sailor will be in the aft cockpit and the kneeling sailor adjusting the mooring lines (in white duck working uniform with bare feet) will be in the bow. The cast resin bases will be removed with a fine fret saw and a brass 0.5mm wire fitted into the legs (as a locating pin) to help secure the figure to the model.

Attachments:

File comment: The sailor will be in the aft cockpit of the picket boat model with his arm along the cockpit edge.001.JPG [ 140.09 KiB | Viewed 1083 times ]

File comment: This sailor will be adjusting mooring lines in the bow of the picket boat.005.JPG [ 112.35 KiB | Viewed 1083 times ]

File comment: The officer will stand in the cockpit of the picket boat.006.JPG [ 80.17 KiB | Viewed 1083 times ]

I will see you at the National Model Warship Weekend when all will be revealed and we can discuss your project in detail. I will bring some motors for you to see. The Belgian contingent seem to be experts on the "sub miniature" RC equipment. They were showing me how they use dismantled servos for their models. Brilliant.

Well that pretty much finishes off the construction of these figures, some of which which were designed as a finishing touch for this picket boat model. As I said previously, there are seven figures in total, (see pictures below) but not all were intended for use on the picket boat, despite the fact they were all in suitable period clothing for 1900.

All I need to do now is to show how the figures were mounted on the finished model.

The figures have been an interesting little side project, and I would at some time in the future like to make some more, possibly a gun crew for the 12 pound QF gun on my HMS Velox model, but in the meantime I must get on with other more pressing projects.

The figures are all cast with bases, as the casting process requires a reservoir of liquid resin to fill any gaps in the figure as it sets. The bases look just like any other stand or base seen on war gaming figures, however, they would look pretty silly on the deck of a ship model. Removing the figure from its base is easy and involves exactly the same process as removing any other cast resin fitting from a casting base. A fine blade fret saw was used and again the blade follows the surface of the base and there is little loss of material (ie the bottom of the figures feet).

Mounting the figures on a model requires a little thought. I used a 0.5mm drill and pin vice to drill up into one of the figures' legs approximately 8mm. I then inserted a short length (30mm) of 0.5mm brass wire securing it with CA. Having decide the location of the figure on the model the deck was drilled with a 0.5mm drill and the figure was installed. Obviously the figure can be glued in place but it is also possible to not use glue so the figures can be removed or swapped. The wire inserted into the deck should be at least 20mm long to reduce the chances of "man overboard" particularly on working models. On models of 1/48th scale a 0.5mm hole in the deck is barely visible.

One of the figures was in a kneeling pose and was cast inverted, ie standing on its head. This was so that the detail on the underside where its feet and legs met the deck were not lost in an amorphous casing mass. Again this was sliced of the base using the above process.

Attachments:

File comment: The figures had their bases removed and were then fitted with a length of brass wire to secure them to the deck,001.JPG [ 94.2 KiB | Viewed 852 times ]

File comment: A 0.5mm hole was drilled in the deck and the wire attached to the figure was inserted.002.JPG [ 121.24 KiB | Viewed 852 times ]

File comment: The other figures on the picket boat model were secured in the same way. Here is the sailor with the boat hook on the fore deck.003.JPG [ 103.22 KiB | Viewed 852 times ]

Well that just about finishes off this picket boat model. The figures were installed and the only thing left was to take a few more pictures of the finished model sailing, this time with the crew aboard. A perfect opportunity came up at the recent Scottish National Model Warship Weekend in Glasgow.

The sun was shining, there was only a light breeze and there were plenty of models on the water. The little picket boat set off from the dock, out of the harbour mouth on its way to deliver the "Admiral" to his ship. The sequence of pictures below tell the story. Many thanks to Doug Kinloch from Edinburgh MBC for taking the pictures.

The more observant of you will notice that the ship involved is in fact a WW2 Flower class corvette. There was unfortunately no 1/48th scale Pre-Dreadnought at the show (surprise surprise). Never mind the correctly scaled corvette made a nice substitute. A nicely built model in it's own right and I'm very sorry that I failed to get the name of the builder.

I hope everyone who followed the build found it both interesting and informative. Thanks for the positive comments posted by forum members.

I shall now be getting back to building the 1/48th scale Russian Torpedo Gunboat "Kazarski" (1890). When I progress a little further I shall start posting details.

Yes compared to the model the pond is BIG, however I was amazed how buoyant and sea worthy it was. This is certainly an indication of the thought that went into the design of the hull on the original vessel and this shows up when the model is seen riding over some quite large (out of scale) waves. The 5mm plastic coaming around the edge of the main deck aperture (and hidden under the boiler house roof) was essential to keep water out of the hull. If I build another one I will certainly consider fitting a small smoke generator (with its own 6v power supply) as there is more than enough hull capacity and buoyancy.